Things to do in Sydney this weekend

Is it getting hot in here? Nope, that's just footy fever. A bunch of pubs in different corners of the city have climbed aboard the exclusive hire train in celebration of the NRL season resuming on Thursday, May 28.  They're allowing you and nine friends the chance to take over their sports bars for a game – all the better to scream yourself hoarse, without lifting any brows. From Thursday, May 28 - Sunday, May 31, you'll get to watch the game on the big screen at all of these venues – and be well fed and watered while you're at it.

Bronte's main strip has grown into a sort of mecca for cafés offering light, coastal fare perfect for towelling off with after a salty dip. Latest among these is South Coast institution Pilgrims, which Sydneysiders no longer have to travel down the coast to get a bite of. It has since popped up in Huskisson, Cronulla and Corrimal – and now, in the heart of the Eastern suburbs with its Bronte outlet. Stop by for an acai bowl, wholesome veggie burger or a freshly brewed coffee. 

The Golden Age has launched Movie Night, a curated cinema streaming platform that they’re calling “the femme fatale, the leading man, and the sassy best friend all in one” – sign us up, right? But don't worry, this isn't just another subscription service to add to the list. You can rent individual movies and documentaries from a fine tuned collection that is being added to every week, with titles starting at $4.99.

The Biennale of Sydney has announced that its 2020 edition will be reopening from June 16, with some venues opening even earlier from June 1. In exciting news for art lovers and those eager to explore the exhibitions and installations hosted across multiple venues throughout the city, it has also been announced today that the Biennale will be extended until September 6, after it was initially scheduled to conclude on June 8. 

From Thursday May 28, the Sky Line Drive In in Blacktown opens again to the public, with a whole season's worth of cinematic programming to keep you coming back for more. Blacktown's drive-in cinema will be screening a wonderful mish-mash of the best blockbusters, cult classics and throwback family flicks – including Frozen II, The Goonies, The Invisible Man, Birds of Prey, Grease and more. The drive-in cinema will be open Thursday through to Sunday each week, as well as Monday, June 8 for the Queen’s birthday long weekend. 

In excellent news for Sydney's hospitality industry, you can now head to your local restaurants and cafés for dine-in eating from Friday, May 15 – but they'll be limited to allowing a maximum of 10 customers at a time, and will also need to allow four square meters of space per patron. Check out our list or your favourite venue's social media for updates on opening times, reservations and sittings. 

Hold your (sea)horses, Sydney's Sea Life Aquarium is opening its doors for a private dining experience unlike any other. The aquarium is allowing ten diners in at a time to eat alongside sharks, sea cucumbers, sawfish, and even a dugong called Pig, while restrictions on dining continue around the state. 

In these times of isolation and spending a lot of time indoors at home, getting some fresh air and some sunlight might be just what you need. Whether you're looking to go for a run, walk your dog, have a sedate picnic or just take a break from your four walls, these are the parks to visit. Remember to continue to practice physical distancing, as stated under the rules in place from May 15, and do not gather with more than 10 people. Some hand santiser also wouldn't go astray.

The Sydney Opera House’s digital program is going contemporary this week, bringing Sydney’s own hip hoppy funk machine to the stage for a special livestreamed Sunday sesh in an intimate three-piece mode. If you wanna work out some angst, on Saturday the Opera House will stream a live set from post-punk legends Low Life.

Australia has always existed in the popular imagination as the slip-slop-slap land of sun, sea and snags. But our backyard isn't just worth frolicking around in the summertime. From the majestic, crisp peaks of the Blue Mountains to the bucolic vineyards of Mudgee, we've rounded up some of our favourite cold-weather destinations to travel to from Sydney. 

Hark! What's that? If it's winter in Sydney and you're standing by the sea, it could very well be the most majestic creature of the sea popping up to say hello – and, y'know, breathe. In Sydney, winter is your best bet to catch a glimpse of some humpback whales, as 20,000 of them make moves along the New South Wales coastline between May to August. Head to one of these lookouts to with your camera and binoculars in tow capture some blowholes spouting.

Driving and cocktails shouldn't usually go hand in hand – but there's an exception to be made for Chippendale bar Gin Lane's new drive-through service selling bottled cocktails – for you to drink in the safety of your own home, of course. Gin Lane, master creators of elaborate, gin-based cocktails, have launched a new range of bottled cocktails which you can pick up from their inner-city store between Wednesday and Saturday from 2 - 8.30pm. 

While the city's gyms remain shuttered for the time being, outdoor community gyms will once again be accessible to the public from Friday, May 15. Here are some of the best outdoor fitness stations from across Sydney, which you can access 24-hours a day and completely free.  

Who needs 11 secret herbs and spices when you can have 17? That's amount of different seasonings Gami, well-known purveyor of some of the country's most mouthwatering Korean fried chicken, is slathering over the chook it'll be delivering to your door – and until May 20, you'll get a sneaky 20 per cent off all orders of $20 or more. 

In the ever expanding list of things you never thought you'd be experimenting with at home comes the Burwood Hotel's latest offering: DIY bubble tea-making kits, in six different alcoholic flavours. The Inner West favourite has been slinging alcoholic bubble tea for some time, but now the Burwood Hotel has branched out to offer DIY kits of six different bubble tea cocktails, for $50.

According to mums all over Australia who’ve seen him on The Living Room – and that one friend of mine who made me watch a lot of clips of him enthusiastically cooking rice and beans over a campfire in I’m Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here (which he also won earlier this year) – Miguel Maestre is a bona fide heartthrob.  Australia’s favourite (and only?) Spanish celebrity chef will be injecting some joy and flair into your lounge room with his first livestreamed cooking demonstration this Friday, May 8, as he walks you through his family-friendly recipe for crispy chicken tacos with fresh tortillas. 

Nothing will ever compare to the feel-good feeling that comes with meandering through the stalls of a weekend farmers market. Now, this Sunday market has temporarily moved online. Yes, that means Madeleines, meringues and canelés from Sacrebleu; doughnuts from Sergio’s Kitchen; all things macadamia from Brother Mountain; handcrafted miso from Enokido; olives galore from the Olive Bar and small-batch granola from MG Food Co. 

Low-lit, indie Surry Hills favourite Golden Age Cinema and Bar is delivering at least part of the movie experience to your door, with the launch of its new candy bar and bottle shop service, Bottle Rocket. Grab hot peanuts or one of four types of housemade popcorn: you can get it plain and buttered, garnished with rosemary and parmesan, sprinkled with spices, or jumbled in with hot wasabi peas ($7). Oh, and the drinks selection is even better. 

Beloved Inner West arts venue, Red Rattler Theatre, is kicking off a new fortnightly online events series on Friday, May 8, with a screening of Kelli Jean Drinkwater’s groundbreaking documentary Nothing To Lose. In the Beforetime, this community-run warehouse was the site of many a queer party, niche gig, poetry slam, and so on. Now the team is carrying that creative, inclusive energy into our current physically distanced situation with a series of digital screenings, performances, talks and DJ showcases that support local queer entertainers and artists.  

One of the country’s most prestigious live theatre companies has joined the mass pivot to online streaming with the launch of OA | TV: Opera Australia on Demand. The free, on-demand streaming service will release exclusive content every week, drawing from the company’s extensive back catalogue of live performance recordings. 

Bastille Day might be a while away yet, but there's no bad time to feast on gooey, melted French cheese in a wheel. That's why the organisers of the Bastille Festival, a French festival held annually in July in Sydney's Rocks district, have announced the launch of their 'Revolution Boxes' – and it's come just in time for Sydney's snap of chilly weather. While the Festival itself has been postponed until October 2020, the francophiles among you can still get your Frenchy fix with boxes of wine, cheese and other goodies delivered to your door. Vive la révolution indeed, especially if it's this cheesy.  Now, the crucial question: which box will you choose? Kits contain allthe ingredients you need to make fondue or raclette – or simply treat yourself to a selection of wine and cheeses from the full range online. The fondue Savoyarde (a type of fondue from the foothills of the Alps) box ($105) contains everything you need to ensure you have cheese dreams that night: three cheeses portioned and weighed, a bottle of white wine from Savoie, another for cooking (!), baguettes for dipping and a bottle of kirsch to pour straight in to your gooey pot of fondue. And don't worry – a step-by-step recipe and tasting notes will ensure you don't put a foot wrong throughout your French escapades. S'il vous plaît, et merci.  If fondue isn't quite your flavour of melting French cheese, the raclette box ($95) contains everything you'll need to cook up a rustic feast in your home: 500 grams of racl

If you've kept your head while all your social media acquaintances fall, one by one, into the tempting pit of sourdough-making madness, we've got just the place for you to pick up a delicious loaf – made by someone who actually does it for a living. At Marta, a Roman-inspired restaurant in Rushcutter's Bay, Flavio Carnevale and his team have adapted to the times by opening up a bakery on weekends to bring you five (!) different varieties of bread, focaccias, pizzettas, flaky pastries and a cart full of housemade gelato.

These days, there are no rules for dining at home. Now, the boys from Darlinghurst’s Buffalo Dining Club are giving you the chance to re-create their signature dish under your own roof for the very first time with DIY kit of 150 grams of fresh pasta and a jar of black pepper and parmesan sauce for you to cook at home for $22. You can add a 16-centimetre, 1.5-kilogram wheel of pecorino cheese to your order for $75. 

If an entire keg of Espresso Martini was a little too ambitious for you, you can still whet your appetite for buzzy booze with the Lord Gladstone's on-tap Espresso Martinis, which are now available for takeaway. At just $5 for 100ml of the good stuff, it'd be rude not to.  The Lord Gladstone – it's the Gladdy, who are we kidding? – have also got a takeaway on-tap beers and a menu made to travel, including favourites like the Glad burger ($18), mac and cheese ($10), and a good old schnitty ($21).

See that lemon sitting on the countertop, the afternoon light striking it just so? That's a still-life waiting to happen – if you've got the photography skills for it. The ACP is running an introductory course on the basics of digital photography ($179), as well as venturing further into the specifics of the art with courses on the basics of design lighting at home for people and objects ($249) and an introduction to Adobe Lightroom ($349). The courses will encourage you to harness the world around you – as physically limited as it may be for now – to create striking, principled photos. 

If you haven’t picked up a paint brush since a high school art class, a blank canvas sitting before you can be a bit of an overwhelming prospect. Thankfully, local ‘sip and paint’ studios are now offering at-home options. Sip and paint classes are $20 a session and typically run from 7pm during the week, with some Sunday afternoon sessions at 2pm. 

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who puzzle and those who are confused about why the other kind so cheerfully volunteer to undertake mundane, unpaid labour.  If you fall firmly into the first category and you're sniffing around for a new puzzling fix, then we've got a treat for you. The State Library of New South Wales has launched a series of virtual jigsaw puzzles inspired by its collections. 

It would not be an overstatement to say that for many of us, our world has been turned on its head. For drag artists, many have not only lost multiple income streams, but the space to share their art. When clubs and bars packed with people and touring are your bread and butter, Aunty Rona isn’t a kind visitor.  But if drag queens, drag kings and drag things have anything in common, it’s ingenuity. They can create a character with nothing but a fabulous, hearty slap of makeup, and now they’re creating performance opportunities and cultivating community out of thin air and a WiFi connection. We checked in with several drag artists who do their thing in Sydney to see how their lives have changed and how they’re adapting to the new normal.  Penny Tration View this post on Instagram A post shared by Penny Tration (@the_pennytration) on Apr 3, 2020 at 11:45pm PDT In the beforetime, Penny Tration led a busy life juggling a day job flying around the world as a flight attendant with a night life as a larger than life drag queen, performing all over Sydney and running award-winning GenderBender Bingo nights across several venues. Penny (Daniel Floyd) was on leave in Mexico when Australia started closing its borders. Arriving home to two weeks isolation in a one bedroom apartment, Penny decided to pass the time by hosting digital drag shows. The Tration in Isolation Facebook group has since grown into an online community hosting regular shows. “I thought, well I’ve got t

Sky Sirens Academy of Burlesque, Pole Dance & Aerial Artistry in Surry Hills is a place where people across Sydney have converged to learn new skills and reclaim their own sensuality. While the studio has temporarily closed its doors, it's released a suite of online classes: unleash your inner flapper, try some burlesque, improve your flexibility, or polish up your freestyle showgirl moves. 

None of us are travelling to New York anytime soon, but you can still get yourself a true taste of the Big Apple with Brooklyn Boy Bagels' new carpark set-up. Drop in, grab a box of bagels (as well as some lox and schmear), and cruise on back home.  Brooklyn Boy's got all the bagels you could want: plain, blueberry, sesame, poppy seed and, just as you'd find in a bodega in the boroughs, an everything bagel scattered with poppy, sesame and caraway seeds. 

The Darlinghurst restaurant that was crowned both our Restaurant of the Year at the 2019 was temporarily closed, but now has made almost all of its menu available for pick up on Friday and Saturday evenings. This includes all of chef-owner O Tama Carey’s curries and sambols, as well as fan favourites like the wok-tossed cabbage, tamarind-scented eggplant and the aromatic love cake for dessert. 

Need a push to get your creative juices flowing? All this new-found extra time at home is the perfect excuse to put those hands to work getting quaran-crafty. The crafty types from Art Somewhere dreamed up this ingenious crossover service and they're now delivering it to you via a fortnightly subscription box. 

The Australian Museum's new virtual project is basically the educational equivalent of hiding vegetables in your kids' spaghetti – they'll learn a whole lot without even realising how it happened. For learning with a dose of fun, children can explore the Museum's range of 3D models, created through a process called photogrammetry. 

While the iso-life has given us plenty to miss as we do our best protect the health of ourselves and others, for many of us a special iso tear is reserved for the beauty and interconnection of queer nightlife. Loud 'n' Queer TV is a livestreamed party coming at you every Friday night from 8pm while we’re all home. Catch all the live music, performance art, “weird stuff” and random chats you’ve been missing.  

There are many rituals we're missing about pre-lockdown life, but post-work drinks is a big one. With the once-bustling CBD streets now empty and the enforced closure of bars and pubs around the country, many have moved online to spruik their wares. Now, the names behind some of Sydney's most popular bars – including Button Bar and Stitch Bar and Terrigal's Pocket Bar, – have opened up an online store selling canned versions of your favourite 5pm beverages, ready for delivery to your doorstep.  They've got a range of 330ml and 500ml of cocktails to whet the most even the most unusual of appetites. Once you've tried out classics like the Amaretto Sour (amaretto liqueur, lemon juice and a dash of angostura bitters) and an Old-Fashioned (just bourbon, sugar, bitter), try out something a little different. Maybe the fresh, Jimmy Hendricks, featuring gin, St Germain elderflower liqueur, cucumber, lime juice and a dash of rosewater ($42.00 for three cocktails). Or, take yourself on a little vacay with the Fuego Senorita: spicy and tropical, with pineapple rum, ginger, lime and smoky mezcal flavours. You'll get six cocktails for $75.  If you're in the mood for something a little more illicit, check out the hip flasks: they're filled with the equivalent of two rum-based I'm the Captain Now cocktails, that you can swig on the go – for now, just on your walk from the kitchen to the living room. Sweet, delicious mutiny.      Photograph: Supplied/House of Pocket     Once you've made you

Despite drastic staff cuts and an unprecedented downturn in trade, our city’s hospitality industry is proving how resourceful, supportive and proactive it can be. Some of our favourite spots to get watered and fed have pivoted their offerings to include home delivery, pre-prepared meals, contactless click-and-collect pick-up and produce boxes direct from their suppliers. Check them out with our rolling list. 

If you’re anything like us, you're in desperate need of something light and easy to binge-watch while settling into your sofa this weekend. With minimal tolerance for grim and gritty right now, we've turned to our public broadcasters (bless the ABC and SBS) for low-key cute chuckles with a side of feel-good warm and fuzzies that will cost you nada to mainline. Here are a few of our current faves that you should pop onto your list. 

Sydneysiders have had to give up a lot recently, but there's no way we're relinquishing the simple, buttery delight of a perfectly smashed avocado slathered on toast. Now, a Sydney institution has made it easier for you to get your café-quality smashed avo fix.  Sydney's long-standing Sonoma bakery is now offering delivery on its at-home brunch packs – so save yourself a trip to the grocery store and get your avos dropped off straight to your door. As many restaurants and cafés who'd ordinarily be ordering our favourite breakkie side in bulk close their doors around Australia, mountains of avocados have been left without a home. In order to rescue them from waste, Sonoma has partnered with Australian Avocados to create delicious brunch packs. Bonus: you'll also be supporting local farmers while you brunch.  Packs include a half-loaf of Miche Sonoma bread, two (!) avocados and a spice-filled seed mix to sprinkle on top ($15). No-fuss brunch, sorted. Order via the Bopple App for free delivery when you spend more than $20, as long as you're within 4kms of one of the many Sonoma locations in Sydney (Alexandria, Bondi, Leichhardt, Manly, Rose Bay, Waterloo and Woollahra). Want more goodies at your door? Check out these at-home craft packs from local makers. 

Lean in to impending doom and drink from MONA's Unholy Waters: a range of pre-mixed cocktails designed to give you a dose of MONA's maverick mischief from home. The Espresso Damnation packs a punch: a fragrant coffee liqueur and cold-drip coffee, cut through with a hint of chocolate-mole bitters and artichoke amaro. If you're feeling fancy, MONA recommends you garnish your creation with dehydrated orange and a couple more coffee beans. 

Chefs have taken to the Instagram cooking class format like ducks to water. The latest among them? The inimitable Neil Perry. But this one's got a twist: he's coming at you not with recipes, but with a bounty of technical advice and tips to elevate your cooking game to the next level. 

Culinary icon Maggie Beer has gotten in on the virtual cooking class action, with the launch of her new social-media series, Cooking with Maggie. So far, she’s whipped up her famous eggplant and eggs, as well as a side dish of caramelised onions with Persian feta, and an inspired take on the Tuscan bread-and-tomato salad, panzanella.

Renowned Australian painter Ben Quilty, who's in isolation in his home studio with his charming 11-year-old daughter, Livvy is teaching us all how to draw, for free, online. Quilty's paintings of landscapes and expressive portraits have been exhibited all around the world, but this class requires no special talent. Watch him and his daughter explain the mathematics of art. 

ClassBento is an online platform for creative, active and food-focussed workshops and classes taught by local expert makers. What's more, they've now launched livestreamed workshops, complete with a box of crafty goodies delivered to your door (and you'll pay zilch for delivery).  Make a quarantine coffee scrub, scent some soy candles, dabble in Turkish mosaic, and, if you're feeling like getting into the festive spirit, learn how to felt an Easter bunny (not a chocolate one). 

Like so many others in the hospitality industry, the head chef at Paddington’s paddock-to-plate fine diner, Fred’s, is coping with the temporary closure of her workplace. And like the rest of us, she is looking to her pantry for a bit of inspiration. Luckily, she’s sharing some of that wisdom via Instagram.  

What is one of the first things you're going to do after isolation is lifted? If your answer is along the lines of “going to the club”, we feel you. Mildly Wet is a fully interactive “online quarantine club” fitted out with sick beats, chat windows and webcams. The club kicks off every Saturday night at 9pm AEST, promising an hour of boogies and a reminder that we are not alone. 

During times of uncertainty, a reliable routine can really help. Don't worry, we’ve picked out some handy online workouts by local experts, so you can still get your heart pumping and those endorphins flowing in the safety of your own home: from cardio, to barre, pilates and strength training. 

Mitch Orr has cooked in some of the Harbour City’s best kitchens – including Sepia and Pilu at Freshwater, to name a few. Now, he's sharing simple, traditional recipes on his Instagram account to help you weather these tough times. 

One day, when the next generation asks us how we made it through the isolation era of 2020, how we reminded ourselves there was a world outside and beautiful things in it, our unanimous answer will be: “livestreams of animals”. The Sydney Sea Life Aquarium and Wild Life Sydney Zoo are bringing through the best livestreamed friends of the furry, scaly and slithery varieties every week.

Zoos may be closed, but Taronga Zoo has upped the ante with the launch of Taronga TV, a new digital platform streaming animal enclosures, behind-the-scenes 'sneak peeks’ and after-hours footage revealing what the keepers and the animals they care for get up to when the park is closed to the public.  They'll be releasing video content daily on their social media channels, so check in.